National Laboratory

LANL Director Places Terry Wallace in Charge of WIPP Accident Investigation

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LANL Director Charlie McMillan and NNSA Los Alamos Field Office Manager Kim Davis Lebak answer questions at Wednesday’s LANL Regional Leaders Breakfast at the Lab. Courtesy/LANL

Staff Report

Los Alamos National Laboratory Director Charlie McMillan and National Nuclear Security Administration Los Alamos Field Office manager Kim Davis Lebak updated community leaders on the situation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) during a quarterly breakfast Wednesday at LANL.

McMillan said he has placed LANL Principal Associate Director for Global Security Terry Wallace in charge Read More

Does Biostimulation Accelerate Algae Growth?

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Courtesy/AlgaStar

SCIENCE News:

Does Biostimulation Accelerate Algae Growth?

Algae and bacteria are the fastest growing organisms on our planet. A single algae cell can produce over one million daughter cells in one day. Is this fast enough? All algae producers are limited by sustainable biomass accumulation. Growth rates impact both capital and operational costs. A 20 percent increase in growth rate could give some growers a 30 percent increase in revenue.

John Ericsson, CEO, AlgaStar Inc. presented at the 2013 Algae Biomass Summit in Orlando, Fla., a session titled: Increasing Algal Read More

Applications Still Being Considered for UNM-LA/LANL Tech Frontiers 2014

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Students will be taking a field trip to learn about water stewardship practices. Photo/Bigstock

UNM-LA News:

The application deadline for the first session of Tech Frontiers 2014, Environmental Science: The Science Behind The Headlines, has been extended until 4 p.m. Friday, June 13. Backup applications will be accepted until Monday, June 16.

The University of New Mexico-Los Alamos (UNM-LA), and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), host the Tech Frontiers 2014 program each summer. Class begins Monday, June 23, and runs through Friday, June 27. Daily sessions are 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Read More

Live Webcast on Groundbreaking Results of Algal Biofuels Consortium Today

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LANL News:

The Energy Department will present a live webcast titled “Algal Biofuels Consortium Releases Groundbreaking Research Results” 2-3 p.m., today, Wednesday, June 11 Eastern Daylight Time.

During this webinar, Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Jose A. Olivares, leader of the laboratory’s Bioscience Division, will present an overview of the technologies and processes developed by the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) consortium that are needed to widely produce algae-based liquid transportation fuels.

Olivares will also explain the Read More

NNSA Says Security at Y-12 National Security Complex Has Improved

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SECURITY News:

Retired Air Force lieutenant-general and now National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) chief Frank Klotz asserted last week that security at the Y-12 National Security Complexat Oak Ridge National Laboratory(ORNL) has improved significantly since a July 28, 2012 break-in at the plant when three aging peace activists, led by an 82-year old nun, managed to breach the facility’s supposedly impregnable perimeter security systems.

Before a security guard arrived on the scene, the activists loitered on the grounds of the facility where bomb grade uranium is stored, Read More

SFI Seminar: Cities in the Marshes – Sustainability and Resiliences in Ancient Mesopotania

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Carrie Hritz
Penn State University
 
SFI News:

Santa Fe Institute Seminar – Cities in the Marshes: Sustainability and Resiliences in Ancient Mesopotania

12:15 p.m. • Tuesday, June 10 • Santa Fe Institute Noyce Conference Room, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe.

Abstract: Hritz will be speaking about her recent fieldwork in Southern Iraq, which focuses on the early development of urban society in relationship to the extensive (and relatively unexplored) deltaic marshlands of the Euphrates, Tigris and Karun/Karkeh rivers.  

Note: We are unable to accommodate members
Read More

Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation’s Founding Director Susan Herrera Announces Retirement

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Susan Herrera

LANLF News:

Susan Herrera, the founding director of the 17-year-old Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation, has announced she is retiring at the end of this year.

Now Chief Executive Officer, Herrera has led the Foundation, which invests in education in seven Northern New Mexico counties, since 1998. During this time, the LANL Foundation has awarded more than $50 million in grants to public schools and nonprofits and today has an endowment of more than $70 million.

Herrera first managed the fledgling foundation from the trunk of her car. Today the Foundation owns its own office Read More

New Video From Los Alamos: Using Neutrons to Study Nuclear Fuel

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LANL News:

In the development of advanced nuclear fuels, researchers need to understand the physical and isotopic properties of the fuel as it’s exposed to high temperatures and very high radiation fields. In this video you’ll get a glimpse of how Los Alamos National Laboratory is using a pulsed neutron source at LANSCE to develop new safer and more economic nuclear fuels.

Watch this video here:  https:////youtu.be/w4QhJEX6DiQ

See all the Lab’s video stories on the LANL YouTube Channel: https:////www.youtube.com/user/LosAlamosNationalLab Read More

Director Peter Kuran of ‘Trinity and Beyond’ Speaks at Bradbury Science Museum June 11

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Peter Kuran, director of ‘Trinity and Beyond’ speaks June 11 at Bradbury Science Museum. Courtesy/LANL

LANL News:

  • Award-winning film director to discuss technical photography during atmospheric testing years

Peter Kuran will discuss the history and basics of photography, and Edgerton, Germeshausen, and Grier, Inc.’s role in filming the technical photography during the atmospheric testing years, during a talk at 5:30 p.m., June 11 at the Bradbury Science Museum.

“I’ve been researching nuclear test photography now for more than 20 years since ‘Trinity Read More

Udall, Heinrich Urge President to Revise Budget To Address Changes In Design And Operation At WIPP

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Sen. Tom Udall

U.S. Senate News:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich urge President Obama to send Congress an amendment to his Fiscal Year 2015 Budget to ensure that the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) has the funding it needs to continue implementing the recommendations of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Accident Investigation Boards, including required changes in design and operation.

A fire and radiation release earlier this year have left WIPP closed while the Department of Energy investigates the root cause of the accidents and develops Read More